Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI)

Andaman and Nicober Islands

The Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) is a Pakistan-based terrorist group with an affiliate in Bangladesh. While the exact formation date of the group is not known, its origin is traced to the Soviet-Afghan war. Qari Saifullah Akhtar along with two of his associates, Maulana Irshad Ahmed and Maulana Abdus Samad Sial, all seminary students from Karachi in Pakistan, were instrumental in laying the foundation of a group, Jamiat Ansarul Afghaneen (JAA, the Party of the Friends of the Afghan People), sometime in 1980. Towards the end of its Afghanistan engagement, the JAA rechristened itself as HuJI and reoriented its strategy to fight for the cause of fellow Muslims in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

The HuJI continued to exist after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989 by merging with another Pakistani militant group known as the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, to form the Harkat-ul-Ansar which subsequently began terrorist operations in J&K. In order to avoid the ramifications of the U.S designation of Harkat-ul-Ansar as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997, it renamed itself as Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in certain areas while its Bangladesh-based unit (formed in 1992) is known as the HuJI Bangladesh (HuJI-B). The HuJI-B functioned, in the initial years, under the Jihad Movement in Bangladesh led by Fazlur Rahman, one of the signatories of the February 23, 1998 declaration of ‘holy war’ under the banner of Osama bin Laden’s World Islamic Front for Jihad against the Jews and Crusaders.

Objectives and Ideology

The HuJI belongs to the Deobandi school of thought and its recruits are indoctrinated in the mould of radical Islam. By describing itself as the "second line of defence for every Muslim", it aims to establish Islamic rule by waging war. The group operating in Bangladesh, HuJI-B, aims to establish Islamic rule in the country by waging war and killing progressive intellectuals. It draws inspiration from Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. At one point of time, it had issued a slogan, Amra Sobai Hobo Taliban, Bangla Hobe Afghanistan (We will all become Taliban and we will turn Bangladesh into Afghanistan).

The HuJI supports, like the other Pakistan-based terrorist groups, the secession of J&K from India and its eventual accession to Pakistan, essentially through violence. It also propagates the idea of Islamic rule over all parts of India.

Among the other objectives of the HuJI is the Islamisation of Pakistani society.

Leadership

Bashir Ahmed Mir, the HuJI ‘commander-in-chief’ for operations across India, was shot dead by police in the Doda district in J&K on January 25, 2008. Operating under the code-name "Hijazi," "Pakistan-trained Mir is believed to have ordered a string of strikes across north and south-east India last year [2007], including the court complex bombings in Uttar Pradesh, the bombing of the Ajmer Sharif shrine in Rajasthan, and the multiple bombings which took place in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, in May and August [2007]." A resident of Chatroo village in J&K, Mir joined the "Harkat-ul-Ansar, which later transformed itself into the Jaish-e-Mohammad, in 1992. He trained in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir from 1994 to 1995, and was then assigned the charge of instructing new recruits at a HuJI-run camp near Mansehra [Pakistan]. He is believed to have returned to Jammu and Kashmir in 1999, and served with a HuJI unit operating out of the Pir Panjal mountains in the Doda-Anantnag mountain belt." He was appointed commander-in-chief of the HuJI in India in 2004.

After the HuJI lost its base in Afghanistan following the US military operations in 2001, most of its leaders, including Qari Saifullah Akhtar, took shelter in South Waziristan in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). While an unspecified number of its cadres also made their way into Central Asia and Chechnya to escape capture at the hands of the Americans, many went into Pakistan to establish themselves in the FATA and Buner in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

The Pakistan-based Shahid Bilal, who is alleged to have masterminded several bomb blasts across the Indian hinterland, is believed to be the operations chief of the HuJI. However, there are conflicting reports on his existence. While some reports have indicated that he was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Karachi on August 30, 2007, some others have reported that Bilal is alive and shuttling from Bangladesh to Karachi. Bilal, a resident of Hyderabad had fled from India to Bangladesh sometime in 2002 and subsequently joined the HuJI. He recruited several persons from Hyderabad to carry out attacks on India and Hyderabad in particular.

According to an August 27, 2007 report in Indian Express, "Shahid Bilal, who is also named in the Mecca Masjid blasts, went to Saudi Arabia for training in 2002-2003 and was an understudy of his maternal uncle Farhatullah Ghori, a Jaish-e-Mohammed operative. A resident of Misram Bagh in Hyderabad, Bilal returned to the city in 2005 before the attack on the STF headquarters. Currently based in Karachi, Bilal has operated with Abdul Kalim Pasha in Bidar in the past and has links with fellow-Hyderabadi Rasool Party who used local youths in the assassination of Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya. Rasool is also in Karachi."

There have been reports that the HuJI operations are now being handled by Mohammed Amjad after the death of Shahid Bilal.

In August 2004, Qari Saifullah Akhtar was arrested by Dubai authorities and deported to Pakistan. He was in Dubai after he moved out of Saudi Arabia where he was in hiding earlier. Qari fled Afghanistan after the "American invasion in late 2001, taking shelter in South Waziristan before he was spirited out of Pakistan." After deportation, he was detained on the charge of anti-state activities. But he was released by the security agencies on May 21, 2007. An editorial in Daily Times on August 9, 2004 stated: "Like Maulana Masood Azhar of Jaish-e-Muhammad, Qari Saifullah Akhtar — born in 1958 in South Waziristan — was a graduate of the Banuri Masjid in Karachi. He was a crucial figure in Mufti Shamzai’s efforts to get Osama bin Laden and Mullah Umar together as partners-in-jihad. Qari Saifullah Akhtar first came to public view when he was caught as one of the would-be army coup-makers of 1995 led by Major-General Zaheerul Islam Abbasi, but saved his skin by turning ‘state witness’. (Some say he was defiant but was still let off.) After that, he surfaced in Kandahar and from 1996 was an adviser to Mullah Umar in the Taliban government. His fighters were called ‘Punjabi’ Taliban and were offered employment, something that other outfits could not get out of Mullah Umar. His outfit had membership among the Taliban too. Three Taliban ministers and 22 judges belonged to his Harkat."

Qari Saifullah Akhtar was also arrested along with his three sons on February 25, 2008 for his alleged links with the October 18, 2007-suicide bombing in Karachi that narrowly missed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto but killed about 150 others. However, Akhtar was freed from custody on March 26, 2008 due to lack of evidence.

The HuJI-B's ‘operations commander’, Mufti Abdul Hannan, who was trained in Peshawar, capital of NWFP, and fought in the jihad in Afghanistan, was arrested in Dhaka on October 1, 2005. The HuJI-B is led by Shawkat Osman alias Sheikh Farid and Imtiaz Quddus is the general secretary of the outfit.

Cadre

Although there is no authoritative information on the actual cadre strength, some reports mention it to be around 500-750.

Area of Activity and Influence

While the present global influence of the HuJI is not known, its presence has been reported from more than 20 countries in the past. The HuJI, according to one report, had spread its wings by 2005 to 24 countries, including India, Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Iran, Malaysia, Fiji, UK, US, Ireland, the Philippines, and parts of Africa and the West Asia. The outfit, according to a report in The Friday Times, maintained branches in 40 districts and tehsils (revenue divisions) in Pakistan, including Sargodha, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Khanpur, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Mianwali, Bannu, Kohat, Waziristan, Dera Ismail Khan, Swabi and Peshawar. It also had an office in Islamabad.

Daily Times reported on August 9, 2004 that "In difficult times, the Harkat fighters stood together with Mullah Umar. Approximately 300 of them were killed fighting the Northern Alliance, after which Mullah Umar was pleased to give Harkat the permission to build six more ‘maskars’ (training camps) in Kandahar, Kabul and Khost, where the Taliban army and police also received military training. From its base in Afghanistan, the Harkat launched its campaigns inside Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Chechnya. It finally became the biggest jihadi militia based in Kandahar located in the middle of the Taliban-Al Qaeda strategic merger."

The HuJI’s operations in J&K began in 1991 and it was reportedly managed by a semi-autonomous unit led by ‘chief commander’ Muhammad Ilyas Kashmiri. According to an estimate in 2002, 650 HuJI cadres were killed in its battle against the Indian army: 190 belonging to both sides of Kashmir, nearly 200 belonging to Punjab, 49 to Sindh, 29 to Balochistan, 70 to Afghanistan, 5 to Turkey, and 49 collectively to Uzbekistan, Bangladesh and the Arab world. However, the HuJI activities in Jammu and Kashmir have progressively declined since 9/11.

The post 9/11 decline in HuJI operations in J&K, however, coincided with the increasing involvement of its Bangladesh based affiliate in several terrorist attacks in the Indian hinterland. The outfit was involved in the attack on American Center in Kolkata on January 22, 2002. The Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF), which claimed responsibility for the attack, was affiliated to the HuJI, formed and manned largely by Bangladeshi migrants in India and some HuJI militants in India who were trained at ISI-backed training camps in Pakistan. Further, the October 12, 2005 suicide attack on the Special Task Force (STF) office of the Hyderabad Police brought it under the scanner of intelligence agencies. Since that attack in Hyderabad, footprints of the HuJI have been witnessed in most of the terrorist attacks that have taken place in India’s urban centres, either directly or indirectly.

The HuJI is believed to have played an important role in the February 2007 bomb blasts in the Samjhauta Express that left 68 persons dead. The May 25, 2007 twin blasts at the Lumbini open air auditorium and a popular restaurant Gokul Chat Bhandar in Hyderabad is also suspected to be the handiwork of HuJI and sleeper cells of the JeM and LeT.

The HuJI has also been linked to the serial bomb blasts in Jaipur on May 13, 2008. "While the SIMI [Students Islamic Movement of India] module might have comprised locals, HuJI could have sent some of its men from outside the state, even from Bangladesh," said Additional Director General of Police (Crime) A. K. Jain, who is supervising the probe.

Available evidence indicates that the HuJI has a strong network in western Uttar Pradesh. The HuJI modules active in Uttar Pradesh are reportedly being monitored from Bangladesh and coordination among the units is allegedly being done by Bilal, the suspected mastermind behind the May 18, 2007 blast at the Mecca mosque in Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh in southern India, in which 11 persons died. The serial bomb blasts of November 23, 2007 in court premises at Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow in which 15 persons died were orchestrated by the HuJI. One of the militants arrested in that case, Sajjad (a resident of Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir), is a relative of Mohammed Amin Wani, a HuJI militant arrested in January 2007 by the Delhi Police. According to police, Wani was trained in a camp at Muzaffarabad in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and subsequently in a HuJI camp at Reeshkhore in Afghanistan. He had disclosed to the police about Sajjad who was then HuJI in-charge in Uttar Pradesh. Wani was also instrumental in initiating several young men from western Uttar Pradesh into terrorism, the police said.

The December 22, 2007 arrest of Mohammad Tariq Qasmi and Khalid Mujahid, two HuJI militants involved in the November 23 serial bomb blasts, and the May 22 Gorakhpur blasts, brought to light the deep tentacles of the group in Uttar Pradesh. Qasmi, a qualified Unani doctor, is the area commander of HuJI in Uttar Pradesh and was the intizamiya (arrangement) in charge of the group. Khalid Mujahid was the head of the action group of the HuJI. Qasmi was reportedly in regular contact with the Pakistan-based HuJI leader, Tauqeer. Brij Lal, the Additional Director-General of Police, stated that money was delivered to Qasmi through local contacts and the bombs were made and supplied by Mukhtar alias Raju, who has made several trips to Bangladesh through the Malda district in West Bengal.

Since 2005, militant groups like the HuJI, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed have, with considerable assistance from local groups like the SIMI, established an extensive network in Uttar Pradesh. While the HuJI has a strong network in western Uttar Pradesh, its cadre have reportedly infiltrated into all regions of the State. Recent trends have demonstrated the involvement of technically qualified youth within the HuJI fold and the ability of its cadre "to operate autonomously in small cells, deadly use of explosive devices, careful selection of soft and hard targets and willingness to inflict mass casualties."

The HuJI is reported to have also established several sleeper cells across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Links

The HuJI is closely linked to the Inter-Services Intelligence, the Taliban and al Qaeda.

The group receives patronage and support from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and is also linked with several Islamist groups operating in India, including the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). According to intelligence sources, the group’s anti-India operations are planned by the ISI, mostly from the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka. The HUJI-B has coordinated its attacks along with the SIMI, the LeT and JeM. SIMI cadres have provided to the HUJI-B cadres shelter and logistical help prior to the attack. A number of SIMI cadres have also joined the HUJI-B. For example, On April 5, 2006, the Uttar Pradesh STF arrested six persons, including Waliullah, the 32-year old Pesh Imam of a mosque in Phulpur near Allahabad. Waliullah, a former SIMI cadre, was HuJI-B's area commander for eastern UP. On the other hand, the LeT and JeM cadres have taken part in the actual orchestration of the attack. For example, HuJI-B had executed the March 7, 2006 attack in collaboration with the JeM and SIMI at the Sankatmochan Temple and the Railway Station at Varanasi. The December 28, 2005 attack at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, in which a Delhi University mathematics professor was killed, was attributed to the HuJI-JeM combine.

Within Uttar Pradesh, the SIMI have provided the HuJI militants shelter and logistical assistance. A number of SIMI cadres have also reportedly joined the HuJI. For instance, On April 5, 2006, the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested six persons, including Waliullah, the 32-year old prayer leader of a mosque in Phulpur near Allahabad. Waliullah, a former SIMI cadre, was the HuJI ‘area commander’ for eastern Uttar Pradesh. SIMI, with a strong base in some universities of Uttar Pradesh, reportedly enjoys the support of a segment of the Muslim populace in cities such as Kanpur, Rampur, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Lucknow and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.

Further, the HuJI maintains links with militant groups operating in India's Northeast, including the Assam-based United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Manipur-based People’s United Liberation Front (PULF). The HuJI is reportedly running some of ULFA's camps situated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh along the border of Tripura.

Proscription

The HuJI is a banned terrorist organisation in India under The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2004.

The US State Department designated the HuJI as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation in March 2008 and accordingly all the US financial institutions were required to freeze assets held by the militant group. Earlier, the US administration had classified the HuJI in the 'Other Terrorist Organisations' list in 2003.

Incidents

2012

December 30: HuJI and HM have joined hands to generate fear among Kashmiris. The report said that the posters put up in the Jammu region by these two outfits have warned the locals from providing information to Security Forces. It also issued a threat to companies involved in railway construction work. The posters also reiterate the threat to panches (members of Gram Panchayat, village level local self Government institution) and sarpanches (heads of Gram Panchayat) to stop participating in the democratic process or face dire consequences.

December 20: The serial blasts in the courts of Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi, according to ATS, were jointly carried out by HuJI and IM. ATS has also named seven Azamgarh-based alleged IM operatives.

Mizanur Rahaman alias Shahjahan alias Bablu, a HuJI operative who was allegedly involved in the abduction of Khadim owner Partha Pratim Roy Burman and was absconding for 11 years, has been arrested up by the STF of Kolkata Police from Princep Ghat in Kolkata.

December 5: Drawing its cadres from LeT, JeM and HM, terrorist outfit HuA is resuming operations under a new name of Jabbar-ul-Mujahideen. HuA was formed by the merger of two Pakistani militant outfits, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.

November 27: Replying to a question, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs R. P. N Singh told Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) that various terrorist groups, including Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Indian Mujahideen (IM) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) are engaged in terrorist activities in the country. "As per available information, militants/terrorists active in India are often supported by their parent outfits based abroad, particularly in Pakistan," he said. Singh said other terrorist outfits which are active in India include Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), Al-Umma, Al Badr, Harkat-ul-Jehadi-Islami (HuJI), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) and Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF).

November 14: The Interpol has issued a Red Corner Notice against HuJI operative Mohammed Abdul Majeed. The hopes of Indian intelligence agencies to get him deported from Saudi Arabia have also brightened following this.

November 4: Syed Thanjim allegedly links to terror outfits LeT and HuJI has been arrested by Bangalore City (Karnataka) Crime Branch team. He was a close associate of Shoaib Ahmad Mirza alias Chotu who was arrested on August 29, 2012.

April 29: SFs have once again stepped up searches for three most wanted militants in Kishtwar District, who remained elusive even after more than seven months of being declared as wanted in a powerful blast outside Delhi High Court on September 7, 2011. The three militants, identified as Shakeer Ahmed alias Chotta Haafiz, Aamir Kamal alias Kamran and Junaid Akram Malik, all residents of Kishtwar, are wanted by the NIA and carry head money of INR 1 million each. Another militant, Mohammad Shaffi, who was being searched in upper reaches of Kishtwar though not being involved in Delhi blast, was reportedly accompanying the wanted trio, sources said.

March 29: Police re-arrested two HuJI militants from Ansi Top and Harddon Top forest areas of Assar in Doda District. These two had managed to escape near Patnitop (Udhampur District) on March 28 evening, while they were being taken back to Udhampur Jail after attending the Trial Court at Kishtwar. The two militants are, self-styled divisional commander of HuJI for Kishtwar area Dullah Bakerwal aliasSher Khan and Jameel Abass alias Abdulla Bakerwal.

March 28: Two militants, including a 'divisional commander' of HuJI, Sher Khan, escaped from Police custody at Patnitop-Batote road on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway when they were being taken back to District Jail in Udhampur after their court attendance in Kishtwar District.

March 22: Indian militant groups are using a video of slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden for recruiting, said intelligence sources. Both HuJI and HM are using the video, said intelligence officials.

Major Haroon Ashiq, a former Pakistan Army commando who became a key al Qaeda operative and an accused in several murder cases and abductions is all set to walk free from his Rawalpindi prison cell after being acquitted by Anti-Terrorism Court in a murder case, with witnesses withdrawing their testimony in fear of reprisals.

March 7: Al Qaeda's main operational commander and the chief of the HuJI, Muhammad Ilyas Kashmiri, who was reportedly killed on June 3, 2011 in a US drone attack in South Waziristan Agency of FATA, was spotted in North Waziristan Agency recently, referring to reliable sources.

February 23: interrogation of arrested IM militant Mohammed Qafeel Ahmed has confirmed that the vast network of banned outfit SIMI is now being used by IM. Qafeel disclosed that IM has no dearth of funds as the terror outfit continues to get substantial amounts of money through the hawala route from Pakistan. He further revealed that Yasin Bhatkal is extremely secretive about his functioning and that he has the capacity to carry out Delhi 13/2 type terror strikes. In fact, Qafeel even told investigators that the possibility of Bhatkal's involvement in the attack on the Israeli diplomat in New Delhi is even higher as he is closely associated with both the LeT and the HUJI. Qafeel was arrested on February 21 in Darbhanga, Bihar and is under the custody of Delhi Police.

February 20: India is likely to seek the extradition of Pakistani-American militant David Coleman Headley and his Canadian accomplice Tahawwur Hussain. "We will write to the US with reference of the court order. New Delhi will highlight that the charge sheet against Headley and Rana is not restricted to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case alone. It also covers the offences which do not come under the 12 counts on which he had pleaded guilty and entered into the plea bargaining," a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official said.

Under the plea-bargaining arrangement, Headley had become prosecution witness in the trial against Rana, who was acquitted by a US court in the 26/11 case but indicted for his role in a terror plot against Denmark. Both are currently in jail in Chicago. "Rana may be acquitted in the Mumbai attack case, but he is an accused here in the case which pertains to a criminal conspiracy with LeT [Lashkar-e-Toiba] and HuJI [Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami] terrorists to carry out attacks in New Delhi and other places in India," said the official.

February 16: Intelligence agencies are concentrating on two particular incoming phone calls that were made to a cell phone in New Delhi using a satellite phone from the Cox Bazaar area in Bangladesh. While one of the calls was made on the day of the incident (February 13), the second call was made earlier on February 5. Sources said, that the satellite number, from which the two calls originated belongs to a HuJI operative who has been on the radar of the intelligence agencies for some time now. The suspect plays the role of a coordinator between various terror outfits like HuJI, LeT and the IM. Investigating agencies, thus, are not ruling out the possibility of an IM hand in the terror strike.

February 13: Members of RAB arrested an alleged operative of banned outfit HuJI from Pabahati village in Sadar sub-district of Jhenidah District. The arrestee, Shaheen Mahmud (46) is a Khulna regional leader of the outfit. The RAB members seized 20 books on jihad, 13 leaflets, a foreign ID card and a passport from his possession. The arrestee was involved in serial bomb explosions on 21 August.

January 23: The life sentences awarded to six HuJI cadres, including three Pakistani, by a trial court for plotting to abduct cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly in 2002, were reduced to eight years each by the Delhi High Court.

2011

October 9: At least two to three HuJI militants of Bangladesh were reported to have visited Kishtwar, Jammu and New Delhi prior to September 7 blast outside Delhi High Court along with Wasim Akram Malik alias 'Doctor Sahib', who was arrested in New Delhi on October 7 by the National Investigating Agency (NIA). A NIA team camping in Kishtwar is understood to have shared names of three militants with local police, who were wanted in connection with the Delhi blast from Kishtwar. They included Junaid Akram Malik, younger brother of Wasim and a 'commander' of HM, Aamir Kamaal alias Akram and Jehangir Saroori.

October 6: Results of the polygraph test performed on at least one of the accused picked up from Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir have indicated HuJI hand in the September 7, 2011 Delhi high court blast. Sources in the Union Home Ministry said that in the polygraph test, the accused confessed having first an initial meeting in July and then a larger meeting with three Bangladeshi men at a mosque in Jammu on September 3, four days before the blast, to decide on the place of the terror attack. The two accused, Amir Abbas Dev and Abid Hussain, suspected of having played a hand in the Delhi high court blast, were picked up by the NIA, with the help of Jammu and Kashmir Police, after the investigators traced the first email sent to media houses to an internet cafe in Kishtwar.

September 28: A NIA team sought interrogation of a top HuJI militant, Asgar Ali, lodged in Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu under the Public Safety Act following reports that he could have some clues about September 7, 2011 Delhi High Court blast as some anti-national elements had visited him in the jail in routine impersonating as his relatives earlier. Some of these anti-national elements were reportedly associated or were in know of the blast. The blast was reported to have been carried out by the HuJI outfit. Asgar Ali was arrested in 2009.

September 23: Shariq Ahmed, one of the three teenagers who was arrested from Kishtwar District in Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the bomb blast outside Delhi High Court (September 7, 2011) was released by Jammu Kashmir Police. Earlier, the national Investigation Agency (NIA) team had taken two of the three arrested persons, Aamir Abbas Dev and Abid Hussain to Delhi while Shariq continued to remain in custody of State Police at Kishtwar .(Contrary an earlier report which had suggested that all the three arrestees were taken to Delhi).

Meanwhile, the NIA got custody of Delhi High Court blast accused Amir Abbas Dev until October 7 from a Special Court in Delhi.

September 21: The National Investigating Agency (NIA) brought all the three persons who were arrested in connection with sending an e-mail claiming responsibility for the Delhi High Court blast (September 7, 2011), to Delhi. The three arrestees were identified as Shariq Ahmed, Abid Hussain and Amir Abbas Dev. While Dev was arrested on September 16, Shariq and Hussain were arrested on September 13. The trio was arrested from Kishtwar District of Jammu and Kashmir.

September 16, 2011: NIA produced Amir Abbas Dev a suspected over ground worker of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) in a court in Kishtwar District in Jammu and Kashmir and got his Police custody for seven days for interrogation. Abbas, who is suspected to be a part of larger network of conspirators involved in the blast, is the third person to be arrested in the blast (case. Abbas had allegedly handed over a portable disk drive to two others -- Shariq Ahmed and Abid Hussain - on September 4, three days before the blast with instructions to email the text to media houses after hearing about the terror attack.

September 15, 2011: The National Investigating Agency (NIA) detained one person from Kishtwar District in Jammu and Kashmir in Connection with the Delhi high Court blast (September 7, 2011). According to sources, the detainee, identified as Aamir Abbas was a suspected over ground worker of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI). Abbas, along with his accomplice Hilal Amin, who was earlier detained on September 14, had drafted the email which was sent three hours after the explosion to claim that the attack had been carried out by HuJI. They were detained after being identified by the two teenagers who sent the draft.

September 14, 2011: In the first positive development for investigators probing the Delhi High Court blast, the National Investigating Agency (NIA) arrested two persons from Jammu and Kashmir for sending an email claiming claiming responsibility for the attacks on behalf of the militant terror outfit HuJI. The arrestees were identified as Shariq Ahmed and Abid Hussain. After sustained interrogation, the two admitted to sending the email and reportedly also identified the person who asked them to do so. The duo were arrested on the basis of a forensic report received by the NIA of the computer hard disc that was used by one of them to send the email from , stating that the blast was carried out by HuJI.

An alleged operative of HuJI, identified as Hilal Amin was detained by Security Agencies from Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar District for allegedly sending a terror email in the aftermath of the blast outside the Delhi High Court.

September 9, 2011: The Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested a teenage boy who purportedly sent the e-mail claiming responsibility for the blast outside the Delhi High Court (September 7, 2011) on behalf of the militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) from a cyber cafe in Kishtwar. The BA first year student was picked up after a three-hour search at a college in Kishtwar and whisked away to Global Cyber Cafe for interrogation by a joint team of Police, NIA and cyber experts led by Deputy Inspector General (Kishtwar-Doda-Ramban range) Muneesh Sinha. Four persons detained in Jammu and Kashmir for questioning in connection with investigations into Delhi High Court blast were released after investigators found nothing adverse against them.

September 7: NIA arrested three persons in Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the case. The arrested persons include the owner of a cyber cafe from where an e-mail from the Pakistan based militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) claiming responsibility of the blast had been sent.

2009

October 18: The SFs killed a ‘district commander’ of the Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HuJI) outfit, identified as Mohammad Amin alias Rahi, at village Sigdi in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar District. Rahi’s movement was being observed by the SFs since last week in Sigdi Bhata when he had torched machinery of a contractor, engaged in construction of road and abducted a driver, Satpal Singh of Noorpur, Kangra. The driver was released allegedly after the payment of INR 300000 ransom. One of his associates was reported to have escaped with the AK rifle of Bhat. From the possession of the slain militant, Police have recovered a Chinese pistol with one magazine and six rounds and four Chinese grenades.

September 5: An over-ground worker (OGW) of the Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HuJI) and Lashkar-e-Toiba was arrested from the Bus Stand area of Kishtwar town in the afternoon of September 4. A Police spokesman said that a joint team of Army and Police apprehended the OGW when he was carrying some items for the militants to their destination. He was identified as Akhtar Hussain (19), a resident of Patti Mahal. Three I-cards, a mobile phone and some other items were recovered from his possession. The Police said he was a surrendered militant of the LeT outfit. He had surrendered before Rashtriya Rifles (11th battalion) in 2007.

April 23: Police arrested Abdul Razaq Ganie alias Abu Vakas, a Pakistan-trained militant belonging to the banned Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HuJI) outfit, from Guloora Kultoora in the Kupwara District. On his disclosure, one AK-47 rifle, three AK-47 magazines, 87 rounds of AK-47, two hand grenades and one pouch were recovered.

February 2: Police arrested a 'district commander' of the Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HuJI) outfit and recovered arms and ammunition from his possession in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar District. Reports said a Police party intercepted HuJI 'district commander' Mohammed Abdullah alias Dulla Bakerwal alias Jameel at Watsar Chatroo. After a brief encounter, the militant is reported to have surrendered. From his possession, Police recovered one AK-47 rifle, two magazines, seven rounds, one wireless set, one grenade, two magazines and 30 pistol rounds. Dulla Bakerwal was the last surviving HuJI 'commander' in Kishtwar.

2008

December 21: The Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested a senior Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) militant linked to the Faizabad and Varanasi blasts in Uttar Pradesh. Sohail Ahmed, a resident of Chatroo in Kishtwar, is said to be involved in the Faizabad and Varanasi blasts along with his predecessor Sabba, who was killed by Police in Kishtwar few months back.

November 9: A self-styled ‘divisional commander’ of the HuJI, identified as Mohammad Rafiq alias Irfan, was among two militants killed by the SFs at Kokernag in the Anantnag district. The HuJI ‘commander’ was active since 2001 in Doda and south Kashmir and was involved in the killing of five personnel of Beacon Project, including Lt Col Ajay Verma, in June 2008. Two AK rifles and other arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain militants.

July 15: Daily News and Analysis quoting Intelligence Bureau (IB) sources reported that the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) is recruiting children for its sleeper and information cells in West Bengal. This development has reportedly as a concern area for the State Police as the outfit is known to have a substantially bigger network in the state, especially in Indo-Bangladesh border districts of in Murshidabad, Nadia, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas. An unidentified IB official said, "Huji is mainly targeting school -outs with extremely poor financial background and wooing them with money." The child recruits’ assignments include passing on information on police deployment in their respective areas of operation. "These children are also being used as messengers between HuJI-B linkmen," he added.

July 10: In a case relating to the killing of five General Reserve Engineer Force officers, including Lt Col Ajay Verma, at Watsar in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir on June 13, 2008, police arrested seven HuJI militants and was searching for four others. The seven militants were identified as Ghulam Hassan Dangar, Abdul Wahid, Mohammed Hussain, Ghulam Hassan, Noor Din, Irshad Ahmed and Mohammed Qasim.

June 24: A ‘commander’ of the HuJI, identified as Akhter Hussian Lone alias Hamza, was arrested from the Sumbal area of Bandipora district.

May 21: A suspected militant of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), identified as Abdul Rehman, was arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police outside the New Delhi railway station. Police sources said that 3.1 kilograms of RDX, five detonators and a sophisticated timer device were recovered from the Janakpuri locality in west Delhi following his interrogation. No ammunition or weapons were recovered from the suspected militant''s possession.

April 23: The involvement of Pakistan-based outfits has been observed in most of the terrorist attacks in India as groups from across the border continue to sponsor terrorist and subversive activities in the country, the Union Home Ministry said in its Annual Report for 2007-08. "The hand of Pakistan-based terrorist organisations - LeT and JeM - and, increasingly of the Bangladesh-based HuJI, known to have close links with ISI, has been observed in most of these cases," the 167-page report said. The incidents showed these groups have been using sleeper cells in the country to carry out such activities, and have also been using the territory of other neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal, it said.

April 22: The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Radhika Selvi informed the Lok Sabha (Lower House of India’s Parliament) that there are reports that some militant groups from the northeast have links with the ISI and some other terrorist organizations of neighbouring countries such as the Bangladesh-based HuJI-B.

March 4: Press Trust of India quoting the Bangladeshi newspaper Pratham Alo reported that the HuJI-B used to supply grenades to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) to carry out attacks in India. An arrested HuJI-B leader, Abu Zandal, has told the police during his interrogation in Dhaka that the outfit had sent several consignments of grenades to the LeT operating in India until 2004. The last such consignment however, could not be delivered as the LeT representative who was supposed to receive it was killed in an encounter with Border Security Force (BSF) near Bangladesh's Kaliganj frontier. Zandal reportedly told the interrogators that the LeT leader Yazdani, who was killed in 2006 by the Delhi Police, used to maintain links with the detained HuJI-B ‘operations commander’ Mufti Abdul Hannan.

January 25: Bashir Ahmed Mir, the HuJI ‘commander-in-chief’ for operations across India, was shot dead by police in the Doda district in J&K.

January 23: A fast track court in Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh, sentenced five HuJI militants to life imprisonment for waging war against the State, sedition, conspiracy and other charges. The convicts, Mehboob Ali, Sayeed Shoaib, Mohammad Rizwan, Farhan and Mohammad Saad, were arrested by the Special Task Force from Lucknow on April 5, 2006, along with Waliullah, the prime accused in the Varanasi twin blasts which occurred in the Sankat Mochan temple and near the railway station in March 2006. The court also awarded them 32 years of additional imprisonment under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, besides imposing a fine of INR 40,000 each. All punishments will run concurrently.

January 9: The Hyderabad city police claimed that the HuJI was responsible for the twin explosions in the city on August 25, 2007, that killed 43 persons. A top police officer said that "Narco-analysis tests conducted on Rafi alias Sheik Abdul Kaleem of Hyderabad gave us names of the key persons involved. Now, we are in the process of gathering evidence against them."

2007

December 28: In a joint operation, the West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department and the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force arrested Aftab Alam Ansari, a top HuJI militant, from the Cossipore area in the northern part of Kolkata, capital of West Bengal. Ansari is suspected to be one of the masterminds behind the serial blasts in the court premises at Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh on November 23, 2007.

December 22: The Uttar Pradesh Police and central security agencies during a joint operation arrested two militants of the HuJI from Barabanki railway station. The duo, identified as Khalid Mohammed and Tariq, allegedly involved in the serial blasts in the State on November 23, were arrested along with 1.25-kg of RDX and some gelatin sticks. Khalid, who hails from the Jaunpur area of Uttar Pradesh, received training from HuJI militants in Kashmir, while Tariq is a resident of Azamgarh district of the State.

December 6: Pakistani militants of the LeT and JeM have joined hands with the HuJI-B to destabilise India's sovereignty taking the strategic advantage of the eastern border, the Director General of BSF, A. K. Mitra, said. Talking to the media in Agartala, capital of Tripura, Mitra pointed out that the western frontier of India was relatively tough for Pakistani militants but the eastern border with Bangladesh had become more useful for them and foreign militants were utilising South Bengal border for anti-Indian activities.

November 24: A HuJI ‘district commander’, Abdul Rashid alias Sarwar, was killed by his colleagues in the Tatwan forests of Kishtwar district in J&K.

November 23: 15 persons were killed and 80 others injured in the near-simultaneous blasts targeting lawyers in court premises in the three cities of Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. In Varanasi, three blasts killed 11 persons and injured 45 people. Four persons were killed and 14 injured in two explosions at Faizabad. In Lucknow, there was only one blast and no casualty was reported. Police sources said the banned HuJI was behind the blasts. Ammonium Nitrate and timer devices were used in triggering the blasts in Lucknow and Varanasi.

November 22: Five HuJI militants surrendered along with their arms before Lieutenant General A. S. Sekhon, the GoC 15 Corps, in J & K.

November 12: The Hyderabad city police in Andhra Pradesh arrested Sadiq-ur-Rahman, a HuJI-B militant, from Kisanbagh in the old city area in the course of routine checking for illegal immigrants. Rahman claimed to have breached the security of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister Shivraj Patil in April 2007. Police sources said that the 26-year-old Bangladeshi national had attended a meeting at Delhi`s Vigyan Bhavan during April 21 to 23 in which all the three dignitaries participated. Police recovered bank passbooks, a telephone directory and other important documents from his possession.

September 28: The Hyderabad Police claimed that they have arrested the younger brother of Shahid Bilal, a suspect in the August 25 twin bomb blasts in the city, and his associate on terrorism charges and causing communal disturbances in the city. The duo was identified as Mohammed Abdul Majeed and Mohammed Shakeel alias Moulana. A police press release said that Shakeel is a close associate and childhood friend of Bilal and is wanted in at least three criminal cases.

September 21: One Bangladeshi national Ridwan Gazi, who the police claimed was an activist of the HuJI-B, was arrested in Hyderabad in connection with the August 25 twin blasts in the city. Gazi had provided shelter to his accomplice, another Bangladeshi national Musliuddin. In his confessional statement, Gazi said that he had tried to garner support for and spread Jihadi activities. Musliuddin had funded his purchase of a motorcycle. He reportedly used to visit madrassas and colleges run by minority groups to lure Muslim youth into Jihadi activities.

September 6: Hyderabad Police arrested 10 persons on the charge of plotting terrorist activity in the city. While three persons hailing from the Moosarambagh and Saidabad areas were arrested on the charge of attempting to recruit youngsters for terrorist training, seven more were arrested for aiding and abetting an ISI agent, Abdul Sattar. Sattar, a suspected HUJI cadre who was arrested two months ago.

September 2: The Hyderabad Police filed a new first information report (FIR) charging 15 persons for their involvement in the August 25 twin blasts in the city. All of them were booked under the Explosives Act and for conspiring to carry out bomb attacks. Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh said that only four of the 15 suspects are in police custody. HuJI-B ‘commander’ Shahid Bilal is among the 11 who are out of the police custody. The new FIR is largely based on the revelations of Sameer Sheikh alias Nayeem, an alleged LeT operative arrested on the Bangladesh border in West Bengal on April 1, 2007. He is also an accused in the Mumbai train blasts case.

August 30: The Hyderabad city police arrested a Bangladeshi national, Mohammed Gazi, who resembled the suspected bomber in the August 25 blasts in the city, and his female associate.

July 17: A 28-year-old man, Sheikh Jalil, was arrested from Biramnagar in Basirhat for suspected links with Jalaluddin, the area commander of HuJI who was recently arrested from Lucknow.

July 14: Police arrested a HuJI activist, identified as Nur Islam, who allegedly functioned as a ‘carrier’ of the outfit from the North 24-Parganas district of West Bengal. Nur Islam was an associate of HuJI militant Jalaluddin arrested in Uttar Pradesh on June 23.

July 13: Security force personnel launched a search operation at Nich Mawar forest in the Anantnag district of J&K, following information regarding the presence of militants there, and in the ensuing encounter a HuJI ‘company commander’, Yousuf Bimla alias Rizean, was killed.

June 23: The Uttar Pradesh Police arrested an ‘area commander’ of the HuJI operations in India, Jalaluddin alias Amanullah Mandal alias Babu, a resident of Bhilparha in the South 24 Pargana district of West Bengal and his associate, Naushad alias Haafiz, in Lucknow. Nine kilograms of high explosives, an AK-47 rifle, two magazines and 60 cartridges of AK-47, 20 hand-grenades and 10 detonators were seized from their possession.

June 21: The Uttar Pradesh Police arrested two terrorists belonging to the HuJI along with seven kilograms of RDX, six detonators, five watches including three improvised watches equipped with timer wire, two batteries and a switch remote. They were identified as Mohammed Yaqub, a resident of Tarapur under Badhapur police station of Bijnore district and Nasir, a resident of Naumi village under Badhapur police station of Bijnore district.

May 7: A Home ministry document reportedly said that the Pakistan-based terrorist groups, particularly the LeT and JeM, are increasingly depending on "surrogate bases" in Bangladesh, Nepal and the Middle East for movement of trained cadres and finances for their operations. The document, based on intelligence inputs, said the Bangladesh-based HuJI, linked to the JeM and LeT, is recruiting Indian youths, sending them to Pakistan for training and re-inducting them via Bangladesh to carry out terrorist attacks.

March 1: Unidentified militants killed a released HuJI militant, Mohammed Amin, and his father Ahmedoo Baksh, in a rented house on outskirts of Kishtwar town in the Doda district of J &K.

January 4: Two suspected HuJI militants, Lutful Rahman and Mohammed Amin Wani, were arrested by the Delhi Police. Rahman, a Bangladeshi national, was arrested in Adarsh Nagar locality of North-West Delhi, while Mohammed Amin, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, was arrested in South Delhi's Nizamuddin area. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), Alok Kumar, disclosed: "We have recovered 1.6 kg of RDX, a detonator and a timer from Mohd Amin and INR 4. 5 lakh from Lutuful Rahman."

January 4: Security force personnel killed Abu Salem, a ‘divisional commander’ of the HuJI, during an encounter at Barf Wali Gali in the Gool area of Udhampur district in Jammu and Kashmir.